This invention relates to a display control apparatus for an elevator in which the information of, for example, time and a weather forecast is displayed on a display unit disposed in at least either of a cage and a hall.
The period of time during which the passengers of an elevator are waiting for the arrival of a cage in an elevator hall or the period of time during which they are getting on the cage is essentially a wasteful time. In order to utilize the time more effectively various items of information, for example, a weather forecast, a piece of news, a show guide and a conference guide, are displayed. A conventional display device employs a liquid crystal, fluorescent display tubes, a Braun tube, light emitting diodes or the like and is disposed in the elevator hall or the cage to display the information items in shapes of letters and patterns.
Another prior art display apparatus for an elevator is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration Application Laid-open No. 60-100379. This apparatus displays on a display device, such as a cathode-ray tube (CRT), a cage position, a running direction, a next stopping floor, etc., based on time and the operating information of the elevator.
Further, there has been put into practical use an apparatus wherein, time and other guidance information are displayed on a simple display device which can display only a specific number of characters at the same time.
In any of the apparatuses in which the time (hour, minutes and seconds) is displayed on the display device, a clock for delivering the time information to the display device is required, and also an adjusting device having switches is needed in order to adjust the clock.
Furthermore, it is necessary to distinctly perform "hour," the "minutes," and the "seconds."
On the other hand, observation information items such as weather and temperature or information items concerning the market trends of the price index of stocks, the rate of exchange, etc. fluctuate with the time. In displaying such information items on the display device, the functions of setting these varying portions are performed in addition to the time adjustments of the clock.
The switches for performing such functions are often disposed in the machinery room of the elevator, the cage, the hall or the caretaker's room for occasional updates. In addition, some contents of the information should preferably be displayed at fixed times requiring considerable labor.
The prior-art display control apparatus for the elevator as stated above requires the switch for informing the clock side of the start of the adjustment of the time of the clock, and the switches for setting the "hour," "minutes" and "seconds" respectively. In the case where the information items concerning the time as output from the clock and the information items including the elements fluctuating with the lapse of time, such as weather information and financial market information, are displayed on the display unit, a large number of adjusting switches are required.
Accordingly, there is the problem that the selection of a place for mounting the large number of switches thereon is difficult or the problem in design that the attachment of a large-sized switch box spoils the outward appearance of the apparatus.
In addition, the display device in the prior art is constructed so as to present the scroll display irrespective of the number of characters which ought to be displayed. This leads to the problem that, when the number of characters of the information to be displayed is smaller than the number of characters which the display device can simultaneously display, the content of the information is difficult to read in spite of the capability of the simultaneous display. A further problem is that, when the number of characters of the information to be displayed becomes large, the users cannot read the whole information in the period of time during which they are getting on the cage of the elevator or waiting in the hall.
Besides, when the number of information items to be displayed becomes large, the situation in which a plurality of information items must be simultaneously displayed will arise. Heretofore, in such a case, only one information item to be displayed has been selected according to a predetermined priority level and then displayed. This operation of display, however, incurs the problem that the information required by the users cannot be sufficiently offered.